Forever Betis

Matilla to Murcia

There's less than three weeks to go till the start of the season now, which makes Friday's friendly against VFB Stuttgart - the first against top-flight opposition this summer - a fairly important test. It'll certainly be interesting to see how the team lines up for that one.

In the meantime, one or two quick mini-stories...

l Javier Matilla's long-rumoured season-long loan to Segunda side Murcia has been confirmed.

It's a deal that really suits everyone. It's easy to forget that Matilla was last summer's big-money signing (at about €1.3million from Villareal) because by the time Pepe Mel was ready to offer him playing time in the centre of midfield he seemed to have the football equivalent of "the yips", apparently unable to play a telling forward pass. Everyone seems to agree, though, that he's got talent to burn, so a season as a big fish in a small pond should help him re-find his mojo. He's still only 23.

l As promised, Simon Needham of the Blyth peña Bética (above right) did a great job of flying the verdiblanco flag at Spain's Olympic game against Honduras at St James' Park. He reports meeting Béticos from Japan, Spain and Newcastle and it's great to think of Betis being represented so prominently in the Gallowgate End. 

l I know you'll like this story from a Venezuelan Bético, as told to Betisweb recently. Hearing that Málaga would be playing a friendly in Caracas, he donned a Betis shirt and hung around the team hotel hoping to meet everyone's favourite ex-Betis winger, Joaquín. When, eventually, the man himself appeared, he greeted our Venezuelan friend by saying cheerily, "A Bético!" and proving exactly as nice as you'd hope he would be. He asked the guy how he came to support the club, and hearing that it was to do with watching him playing at the 2002 World Cup and looking into who he played for, Joaquín finished the story off himself, "...and you fell in love!" When it came to having to their picture taken together, instead of "Cheese!" or "Whisky!", they apparently said, "Lopera!"

l Finally, it's worth keeping an eye on the Macron online shop, where the Betis kit is gradually being released. Mail order is available to most countries in the world (albeit at a cost).

Making a splash

It's been a day away from the training pitch in Germany today for the Betis players, who spent the morning at a local spa resort and then went sightseeing in the pretty nearby town of Heidelberg.

 
All very well, but couldn't they be a bit more, well, creative on their days off? In the video below the USA women's Olympic soccer team show you what can be achieved by a group of sports stars stuck in a foreign country with too much time on their hands...

 

How it happened

The video highlights of both weekend games are pretty ropey, but I'll put them up anyway.

 

 

SV Sandhausen 0-4 Real Betis

Not a bad scoreline considering it was the second fixture in two days (although, of course, most of the Betis players only played 45 minutes in each game). Rubén Castro scored a hat-trick (one a penalty) and Jorge Molina got the other in a game that was moved at the last minute to Sandhausen's training ground after problems were discovered with the pitch in their main stadium. 

Rubén's first goal was the penalty (16 minutes, after a foul on Jonathan Pereira), the second was a header (32 mins) from a Nono corner, and the third (47 mins) was a rebound from a shot by Molina. The latter then finished off a nice move between Juan Carlos and Pozuelo (77 mins).

Betis: Fabricio; Chica, Amaya, Dorado, Nacho; Rubén Pérez, Salva Sevilla, Nono; Agra, J Pereira, Rubén Castro. Second-half subs: Jorge Molina, Súper, Nelson, Pozuelo, Sergio, Vadillo, Álex Martínez, Juan Carlos.

VFR Aalen 2-2 Real Betis

Betis gave an understandably sluggish performance last night against Bundesliga 2 opponents, going two-down within an hour before coming back to draw. Substitute Jonathan Pereira had a hand in both goals, passing to Juan Carlos for the first and later drawing the penalty that Jorge Molina converted for the equaliser.

It's hard to draw too many conclusions from a game coming so soon after a proper planes-trains-and-automobiles trek across Europe, but everyone seems to agree that defence - especially with Paulao out - is currently the team's achilles heel. In the last few games a trend for leaking headed goals from set-pieces has developed - there was another example last night - and a new central defender is still high on the shopping list.

The squad go again later today against another Bundesliga 2 side, SV Sandhausen. Betis will be without Paulao, Cañas, Mario, Beñat and probably Nacho through injury, and Joel Campbell for reasons connected with his immigration paperwork (it's complicated, but probably not the club's fault). Agra should be available, though.

Betis: Casto; Nelson (Chica, m. 46), Amaya (Súper, m. 67), Dorado, Álex Martínez; Sergio (Vadillo, m. 46), Beñat (Salva Sevilla, m. 46), Rubén Pérez (Nono, m. 46), Juan Carlos; Pozuelo (Jorge Molina, m. 46), Rubén Castro (Jonathan Pereira, m. 46).

Goals: 1-0, m. 30: Martin Dausch. 2-0, m. 58: Kister. 2-1, m. 63: Juan Carlos. 2-2, m. 77: Jorge Molina (pen.)

Nosa? No, sir

One thing I've learned since starting this blog is that a player transfer - in or out - is never done till it's done.

Nigerian midfielder Nosa Igiebor is just the latest example. A couple of days ago even the most reliable news sources were reporting that a deal to bring him to Betis from Hapoel Tel Aviv was "very close", with agreement between the three parties - both clubs and the player - already in place on most of the key points. It had even been reported that he would join the training camp in Germany.

But today a notice appeared on the club website announcing, "Betis break off negotiations with Nosa Igiebor." Here's why: "The club had reached agreement with the player as well as with the club that held his registration, Hapoel Tel Aviv, but in the last few hours the player asked for an increase in the salary that had already been agreed. The club considers this manoeuvre to show a lack of respect, sincerity and professionalism, which it cannot accept. The scouting department is looking for a particular type of player - one who combines technical ability with desire, ambition and commitment to the thirteen stripes, plus respect for the fans. Neither the player's unilateral breach of the agreement nor his pay demands will be tolerated by the club."

The word is that Betis are genuinely furious with the player and his agents, and that he'll now have to look for another club (and indeed might already have another in mind). We'll see, but he certainly wouldn't be the most disastrous loss. While he's obviously a talented player, Betis are pretty well off for young attacking midfielders - with Sergio, Nono and even Pozuelo able to play in that role, not to mention Beñat - and there are certainly other areas of the team that are more desperately in need of reinforcement.

This evening it's all eyes on the town of Aalen, where the local second division side take on Betis at 7pm. Paulao, Mario, Cañas, Agra, Nacho and Juanma are all unavailable through injury.

Wilkommen Betis

The Betis players and officials were up very early this morning for flights first to Madrid and then on to Frankfurt, where the club bus was on hand to whisk them 75 miles south to the town of Bad Schönborn (see map), their home for the next two weeks.

In total, there are currently 27 players in the party:

Goalkeepers: Fabricio, Casto, Adrián

Full-backs: Nelson, Chica, Nacho, Álex Martínez

Central defenders: Dorado, Paulao, Amaya, Mario, Manu Herrera (formerly known as Súper!)

Central midfielders: Beñat, Cañas, Rubén Pérez, Salva Sevilla, Nono, Sergio

Wingers: Agra, Campbell, Juanma, Juan Carlos, Vadillo

Strikers: Rubén Castro, Pozuelo, Jorge Molina, Jonathan Pereira

Despite the long journey, they're not being allowed much rest - there's a training session this evening and the first friendly of the trip takes place two hours away in Aalen tomorrow evening (with another on Sunday).

For a fun way of keeping in touch, why not take a regular look at videosdelbetis.com's Zona Twitter, which collates all the players' Twitter accounts. Want to know which book Jorge Molina is reading? Fancy a peek into Javi Chica's bedroom? It's all there.

Gimme five

Footage from last night, with Betis in the navy blue. Doesn't it make you wish you'd been there?

UPDATE: You can also see the goals here.

Atlético Sanluqueño 1-5 Real Betis

Betis's last pre-season friendly on Spanish soil before the start of the 2012/13 season ended much the same way as the previous three: with a solid away win and plenty of good vibes. Against third-tier opposition good enough to have beaten Real Zaragoza at the weekend, Rubén Castro scored twice (and missed a penalty), helped out with further goals from Agra, Molina and Pereira. To judge from the photos, a lot of people in the charming town of Sanlucar de Barrameda had a lot of fun.

Betis: Adrián; Nelson, Súper, Dorado, Nacho; Agra, Rubén Pérez, Beñat, Juan Carlos; Salva Sevilla, Rubén Castro. Second-half subs: Chica, Álex Martínez, Sergio, Nono, Campbell, Vadillo; Jonathan Pereira, Jorge Molina.

In other news, Ezequiel's season-long loan to Freiburg has been confirmed, while reports all over the place say Betis are closing in on Nigerian 21-year-old Nosa Igiebor (currently with Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv). I'll bring you more details when the deal is confirmed, but he's an attacking central midfielder who, on the basis of this YouTube video at least, looks very interesting.

(Beñat pic from the Betisweb gallery of photos from the game)

Quiet times

It's been a low-key few days, but that should change from the end of the week when Betis head for Germany, where they'll play no fewer than six friendlies in two weeks. It's thought that Juanma and Matilla will be left behind to allow them to sort out their futures away from Betis.

There are just one or two items of news to round up...

l It seems we were a little premature with the news that Ezequiel was joining Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan. He was there on trial, but they eventually decided they didn't want him and he's now going through the same process with Freiburg (who gave him a run-out in a recent friendly). If that doesn't work out, there are reportedly some teams in Portugal interested.

l So far, you might have noticed, Betis have avoided paying too much hard cash for any of the players they've brought in. This could change, thought, if they eventually sign Real Madrid Castilla (their reserves) winger Juanfran. The 23-year-old, who can also play at right-back, has been engagingly enthusiastic about the prospect of joining Betis and the clubs have reportedly agreed a fee of €800,000 (rising to €1million if certain targets are met), but there's currently deadlock over the question of a buy-back clause. Real Madrid want to be able to nab him for €2million (ie, if he turns out to be any good); Betis say they'll start talking at €4million. Sneakily, Madrid have also asked Betis, as part of any Juanfran deal, to back them in the next round of TV money talks. One can only hope they were told to take a running jump.

The player himself is staying out of it all. "I'm relaxed," he says. "I know I'm going to end up at Betis."

l Ex-Béticos say silly things, Part 1. Achille Emaná:  "Betis weren't straight with me." Iriney: "Signing for Granada was the best decision I've made in my life."

The Cameroonian was talking to a local radio station yesterday when he made this statement about last summer's transfer to Saudi club Al-Hilal, but was less than specific about details. He added mysteriously: "Achille Emaná forgives but he doesn't forget."

And Iriney's quote? That was made at his presentation as a new Granada player today. It probably wasn't the best choice of words, let's put it that way.

l There's interesting news of another ex-Betis skipper, too. Arzu, who spent last season at Gimnástic in Segunda, has just signed for Thai club Bec-Tero Sasana. That says all you need to know about the state of the Spanish economy right now, footballing and otherwise.

l Any readers going to watch Spain play at the Olympics? Simon Needham of the Blyth Spartans Peña Bética is inviting all-comers to meet up before next Sunday's game with Honduras at St James' Park, Newcastle. Simon writes:

"We are planning to be around an area outside the ground where there are two popular bars, The Strawberry and Shearer's Bar (named after former Newcastle legend Alan Shearer). Hopefully you'll be able to spot our "Blyth-Betis" Andalucia flag outside and inside the stadium and it's likely we'll be wearing our new Blyth Spartans shirts - a much asked for return to traditional green and white stripes, black shorts and black socks. I just thought it would be a great opportunity for us to meet up with any Real Betis fans who are coming over to Newcastle. We noticed that there were quite a few at the Euros."

Sounds like a great idea if you happen to be going to the game.